KULIM, Nov 27 — Bersatu Information chief, Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan has proposed to the Kedah state government to announce a special holiday on Dec 17 in conjunction with the 15th general election (GE15) for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat.

The Tasek Gelugor MP said the proposal was meant to make it easier for the people of Kedah to come out and vote on Wednesday.

"Dec 7 is an important day for the people of Kedah, especially in Padang Serai, I am quite worried because it is a working day... we must make sure the percentage of people who come out to vote is high,” he said when met while campaigning with Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat Datuk Azman Nasrudin here today.

According to Wan Saiful, the Padang Serai election will be the yardstick to measure to what extent the PN ‘wave’ actually existed especially in Kedah.

GE15 on 19 Nov saw PN winning 13 of the 14 parliamentary seats contested in the state.

Earlier, the Election Commission (EC) fixed Dec 7 as polling day for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat with early voting set for Dec 3 following the death of Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate M. Karupaiya.

Meanwhile, Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the seat, Datuk C. Sivaraj also agreed to the proposal to have Dec 7 declared a holiday in Kedah to ensure a high percentage of voter turnout.

"I would also be grateful if a holiday is declared because it will affect our voters as well because Wednesday is a working day for most people,” he said when met while campaigning in Kampung Padang here today. — Bernama